THEATER

THEATER; '42ND STREET: LOOK BOTH WAYS, BECAUSE IT'S COMING AND GOING

By ALVIN KLEIN

Published: September 13, 1987

IF one show can be said to have high visibilty, it is the long-running musical ''42d Street,'' which is coming and going in the state's two dinner theaters.

The splashy musical - about a musical trying out for Broadway - is getting ready to open on Thursday at the Darien Dinner Theater, at which previews began last Wednesday, while another production is ending a five-month engagement tonight at the Coachlight Dinner Theater in East Windsor.

Originally announced as closing on June 28, ''42d Street,'' Coachlight-style, went on to set a long-run record for the theater, which is having its 15th anniversary this month. As for the Darien production, it is scheduled to close on Nov. 29, but the theater's producer, Jane Bergere, is not discounting the possibility of an extension if the musical lives up to its popularity potential.

Meanwhile, on Broadway, the original, extravagant David Merrick production, with its cast of 54 - ''still the largest on Broadway,'' according to a press release - went into its eighth year last month, and is currently the fifth longest-running musical in Broadway annals.

And if one performer has come to represent the spirit and staying power of ''42d Street,'' it is Lee Roy Reams, who has been in the Broadway company as Billy Lawlor, the song-and-dance man, romantic lead and ''ever the wolf,'' in the words of the original cast album's liner notes, since the opening night on Aug. 25, 1980 - with time out to re-create his role in the Los Angeles and Tokyo companies of the musical.

Commenting on his longevity amid change - the company has played in three Broadway theaters and has had four leading men, five leading ladies and six ingenues - Mr. Reams said: ''People keep asking me, 'Are you still in it?' Well, thank God, I still am! It keeps me in shape. I like the regularity - and the profitability.''

For proof of the profitability, consider the cottage in Danbury, with its six acres, that Mr. Reams purchased from the composer, Jerry Herman, in 1984 and had gutted and completely redone, and has often called ''the house that David Merrick built.''

''And I just keep tap dancing to pay the bills,'' he said before a recent performance as workers were traipsing through his Manhattan town house, which is being renovated. ''Carol Channing bought that one,'' he said, referring to the star of a profitable two-year tour of ''Hello, Dolly!'', in which he played Cornelius Hackl. ''Being the first featured principal in a big Broadway musical, that's the tops,'' he said. ''I always wanted to be Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire, but they don't have song-and-dance parts in films any more - not unless you're Dolly Parton.'' Mr. Reams had the leading role of Bobby in the musical ''Company'' at the Darien Dinner Theater in 1979. ''And that led to '42d Street' - work comes from work,'' he added. He won his present role after the first audition, although he was asked to try out for a lesser one, that of Andy Lee, the show's dance director. ''But I went in as if I were Billy,'' he said, ''and when I was told, 'You're right for Billy,' I said, 'Of course I am.' ''

''42d Street'' is based on a novel by Bradford Ropes that inspired the 1933 Busby Berkeley movie. Dick Powell played Billy Lawlor in the movie version, which contained four songs; the stage musical has 13 - all standards by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics) - with the character of Billy figuring in seven of them.

''At first I was just the tenor trying to get the girl, but Gower made it into a dancing role,'' Mr. Reams said, referring to the musical's director and choreographer, Gower Champion, who died the day ''42d Street'' was to open on Broadway. The show went on that night and during the curtain call, Mr. Merrick announced Mr. Champion's death to a stunned cast and audience.

The show's choreography, which embraces satiric solos (''Shadow Waltz''), tap-dance duets (''Young and Healthy'') and all-out production numbers (''Lullaby of Broadway''), has thus become a testament to Mr. Champion's work, and the image of Mr. Reams dancing on an oversize dime - in the big number ''We're in the Money'' - is one of the trademarks of ''42d Street.''

In the Darien production, which is directed and choreographed by one of Mr. Champion's dance assistants, Randy Skinner, James Darrah is Billy, having played the part in 85 cities, including the Tokyo version, according to Ms. Bergere. About the cast of 23 and access to the show's original costume designs, Miss Bergere said: ''We're going for the top. The production has to be first-rate.'' Of the closing Coachlight production, which has a cast of 20, Janis Belkin, the theater's co-owner and manager, said: ''It's the largest, most spectaclar show we're ever done. And the response was so terrific, we had to hold it over. It's been a wonderful way to celebrate 15 years in show business.''